tips to succeed in ielts exam

Learn to spot parallel phrases. These are different ways of expressing the same thing, such as, I like to ski and skiing is enjoyable. Many questions, e.g. YES NO NOT GIVEN questions and gap fills, test your ability to match up a similar phrase in the task with its equivalent in the text.

Dont panic when you encounter an unknown or difficult word. IELTS texts are packed with highly specialised vocabulary. Skip over difficult words which are not essential for your understanding of the text. For words you do need to understand, practise trying to guess their meaning using the overall context of the text and sentence as well as the form of the word e.g. is it a noun or verb.

Time manage in the exam. Most IELTS candidates run out of time in the third reading section. Each text should take you roughly 20 minutes the examiners will tell you after 20 minutes have passed. Never spend too long on a single question guess the answer or leave it to return to later. Also if you feel you are running out of time, tackle questions like gap-fills before doing easy to guess tasks like YES NO NOT GIVEN questions. Dont forget you also have to have all your answers on your mark sheet by the end of the test. A good tip is to write them on the mark sheet in pencil as you go, correcting where necessary at the end.

Its an excellent idea to memorize the timing of the speaking part of the exam, as well as how it is scored. There are three parts to the speaking section.

While fluency and vocabulary technically carry the same weight in grading, its better to be fluent and fluid than to spend several seconds thinking of the best word. Your overall impression will be much stronger if you speak fluidly and only hunt around for a great word once or twice. Chances are that if you keep talking, your next chance to speak will yield a strong vocabulary word.

You know the way beginners talk when learning a new language a slow, flat monotone. Nothing is less impressive and more yawn inspiring. Even if you speak perfectly, a bland tone can make you sound less fluent than you really are. Adding some range to your tones will make you sound more fluent, interesting and accomplished.

It would be rare for someone to go through an exam and understand everything. Even if you do understand everything, you may need some extra time to formulate your responses. In part 2, this is not applicable because you have time to take notes and, since youre required to talk without pause, you will have no excuses to buy yourself more time.

There are two basic, unspoken rules when it comes to how much you should speak during the speaking section. The first is to speak as much as possible; the more and the greater variety of language you use, the better. You dont want to talk incessantly and repeat yourself just for the sake of talking, but you should try to speak as much as possible within reason. As long as the conversation is lively and interesting, you cant talk too much.

If youve gone through the trouble of preparing answers to different questions, throw them away. Part of speaking fluently is speaking spontaneously, and the examiner will immediately know if youre regurgitating responses. This will drastically hinder your score as the examiner cannot count these as answers because they are nothing more than memorization. The key is to be relaxed, have fun using English and respond directly to the questions asked. Plus, theres nothing worse than trying to make a prepared answer fit a question that is just slightly different.

It happens to the best mistakes. Even when youre speaking your native tongue sometimes the wrong words come out. You might be talking too quickly or just accidentally say the wrong word. If you are able to quickly and fluently correct yourself, go for it. This will show the examiner than you are conscious and in control and, of course, that you know the correct answer.